Back to Basics: An Olivia Creed Adventure
by Karrin Akisha
Summary: Space pirate extraordinaire Olivia Creed sets out to do the stupidest, most badass thing she can think of: Killing Aria T'Loak. Will she survive to tell the tale or will she die trying to atone? Whatever the case, she's trying to prove something to herself, and her family. (Disclaimer: story is set in the ME universe and not tied to the original story) AU/Non-Canon. One Shot.
1. Part One

In life I'd always known that there were bad days. Then there were bad as fuck, what in the spirits were you thinking, legendary kind of bad days. As I dragged my battered and bruised body on my sliced up hands and my one good leg to a makeshift shelter I'd spied just a few feet away, I realized this was shaping up to be one those legendary bad as fuck days that you told people about. One of those stories you passed down, hoping your kids wouldn't be stupid enough to even attempt something close to what I'd done.

I knew I couldn't stay out in the open because the electrical storms would eat me alive if not set me on fire and I also knew I couldn't risk another attack from the armor clad bastards that did this to me. My body just wasn't in the right place for it and my wits felt just as shattered as the bones in my tail. Thankfully I'd made it to the shelter and I needed to assess the damage to myself before I tried to get back to my shuttle; if it was even still functional and in one piece at this point.

The gruesome sight would have even made the great Alistair Creed cringe. My tail was broken in several places and hung limply beside me. There were deep lacerations on my arms and stomach; a gash on the side of my head and one trailing from my ear down my cheek; sand in my snatch; blood trail behind me; one ear ripped and partially hanging off the top of my fucking head. Not to mention the two bullet wounds in my back.

Fuck. I didn't know how many times I'd been crossed off the list and left for dead. I guess when it first happens the day you try to rise in the Pirate Clan ranks, you're going to lose count like I did. This…this shit wasn't anything new. But the pain was. Spirits… I wanted to fall over and just let the spirits take me to see my father and the rest of the loved ones I'd watched die over the course of my mature life.

Maybe I'll honor that promise to Garrus and meet him at the bar. He's buying anyway.

I was a fighter, though. I'd fought through more than just a simple run gone wrong. I'd fought through the Reapers and I'd survived to tell the tale. But it's always the first shot to the back you don't see coming and the second that puts you down. But why didn't I see it? But why didn't /I/ see it? ME? Captain-fucking-Marcellus. Second most feared space pirate in the entire galaxy to Aria T'Loak. My tail hung limp in my lap as I felt around to see if I could try to piece it back together. Damn pirates. Of course her posse was going to hunt me down and shoot me like a dog…well, cat in my case. Fuck, that's what they did for a living. Loot, pillage, plunder, kill; and if I was lucky, in that fucking order.

Look at me now. I was emotionally damaged beyond repair. I could hardly walk with the broken leg let alone try to defend myself with my only gun since I'd lost the other revolver. I couldn't even pretend I could lift my sword. At this point the main question shouldn't have been "What happened?" It should be "What happened to /me/?"

Somewhere in my life I'd lost a step. Tripped over my tail. Fallen out of my own grace. Missed the memo. I'd gotten fat, diplomatic, comfortable, and sloppy and it dulled my own sharp edged tongue and my expert reflexes. Maybe I went and done the worst crime in this business: I'd gotten married, had children, and became a fucking domesticated housecat with a legal business and no real gun to protect me.

I groaned in pain as I rested my head against the sun bleached rock and closed my eyes while the sand slowly started to accumulate around me from the light breeze. Before I even left the Citadel I knew I needed to zero the clock and go back to a place I was comfortable with. A place I felt myself. A place I needed to venture to; to remind myself of my Creed and what my part in all of it was.

So I took my ass to the only place I thought knew I'd be able to do it without dying. The place where it all started. The place where Marcus and I first met Talea. The first place we'd hopped onto her pirate ship, the Devils' Revenge, and sailed the galaxy as an official space pirates. The place my life took its turn.

Ontarom. If I owned this place and New Davidia, I'd rent this place out and live in New Davidia.

If the lack of water, resources, food, or shitty air quality here didn't kill you, the electrical storms that danced across the surface every two hours or so would fry you to a crisp. This I knew from personal experience. I watched many an armor clad adversary get shocked to shit and laughed as their heads popped like a capacitor in a reversed electrical current.

Fun times indeed.

But now wasn't one of those times. I needed to get back to my shuttle because in that old and fucked up shuttle held my medigels, adrenaline, and pirate sized med kit. I could properly reset the bones in my leg and my tail; patch up my lacerations and cuts so I didn't go back to Carmen looking like I'd been drug through Aratoht's mud; and lived to see another day.

Fuck. I was Captain-fucking-Marcellus. Well, one of them out of the long line of predecessors. I was damn sure the spirits had their tricks lined up for me but getting out of places in conditions no one else could, /that/ was always one of mine.

How'd I escape this hell of a location the first time? That's a story for another day.

To Be Continued…


	2. Part Two

I used the lighter I'd stolen from the warehouse with the Omega symbol on the casing to heat up the metal pieces of my armor to make them pliable enough to mold around my leg. Fucking hell. I didn't realize how much this would hurt until I screwed the small spike that held my armor into place into the sensitive skin of my calf and right into the bone. I released a wail of pain through my tears as it felt like the pain that had just started to dull flared back to life, sending shockwaves up and down my spine.

Once I finished fixing my leg I had to breathe deeply to prevent myself from passing out. Eventually I gave in to the pain and closed my eyes, the memories of the past replaying in my mind as they tend to do right before you die.

* * *

"Try to see past what she is, on to what she /can/ be."

A young raven haired pirate by the name of Olivia Marcellus stood next to her Captain and brother, Marcus, with her arms coolly folded over her ample bosom and virtually glaring at the piece of hunk that was going to become their new ship and home for the next decade or so. Upon sneaking into the ship that they were about to steal from the batarians she looked around with more than just concern crossing her strong features. Within the five seconds of stepping onto the damn thing she'd already spotted ten things that she knew would be huge problems in the future. It wasn't until her black boot stepped into something unknown, smelly, and quite squishy did she turn to him.

"You can't be fucking serious, Marcus. What the fuck is this?" She gestured to her boot.

"Freedom's what it is, Livvy." Marcus cooed in that suave tone of his and did one of his grand gestures of extending his arms while turning on his heel. In his excitement he was completely oblivious to what Olivia was going on about. Olivia, in turn, just couldn't believe her ears and she shot him one of her glares, that one glare that could bore a hole through your skull if it had been tangible type of death glares Marcus said she must have learned from Ophelia. Olivia thought differently.

"No, Marcus. What the fuck is /this/?" Again, she gestured to what she could tell was probably varren shit that was now smeared on her precious, stolen, and quite expensive black boots.

"Just… step around it. It's probably just varren shit. It washes off." Marcus then continued on deeper into the shabby shuttle bay, looking around with that usual excitement when he found what he thought was treasure. "Think of it, Livvy. We'd have our own /ship/. We can find a mechanic, pilot, armory chief…" He continued to rattle off about theoretical ship openings as Olivia frowned in disgust, violently shaking her boot to try to get the shit off before continuing on behind him.

"Thankfully, we're gonna steal this muthafucker because it would be a shame if we actually had to pay for it. Do you know if it even /flies/? You know, there's also like fifty other ships we could steal that are close by." Olivia gestured back to the exit and heaved a heavy sigh, knowing that taking on the task Marcus had set out to do was going to end badly. Very badly. And probably with her being shot.

That charming smirk crossed his face as he turned around, resting his hand on the butt of one of his revolvers. "Not the point. I promised ya a ship for yer eighteenth, and this is /it/. We ain't gotta live under the helm o'Talea, o'anyone else /ever/ again. /And/, we can bring back the Marcellus name. It's fuckin' perfect."

It was then, before she could even protest the stupid idea of leaving Talea's side; that Olivia heard the pounding and determined footsteps of the agitated batarian behind her. It only took a split second for Marcus to the snatch his oblivious sister behind him and fire off the first shot, the bullet lodging into one of the eyes of the approaching batarian. After the batarian went down with a loud thud the small shuttle bay became flooded with angry, pissed off slavers. And with nothing but a single lonely crate to take cover behind, the Marcellus siblings collectively knew were pretty fucked.

"Remember that favorite game of mine? Who's the better killer?" Olivia asked as she dove for cover, taking Marcus with her by his collar.

Marcus reluctantly let Olivia yank him by the collar as he landed behind the crate. He leaned his back against the dingy metal as he looked over to Olivia, who was now quickly and frantically assembling her Equalizer.

"Yeah?"

"Let's play." Olivia cooed in that sinister tone that reminded Marcus why he loved his sister as much as he did and put up with /half/ the shit he put up with on a regular basis.

Marcus fired off the first few shots from their side, distracting the batarians in the back before Olivia took out one on the side with a perfect headshot. Olivia realized slavers had been advancing entirely way too quickly for a sniper and two revolvers so Olivia did what she did best. She aimed her rifle at the one and only light illuminating the shuttle bay and took it out.

Amidst Marcus's cries of protest she rolled out of cover unsheathing her dual daggers mid roll and started taking them out one by one. A slashed throat here. Eyeball stab there. Even so far as breaking one of the batarian's arms and using him to break the neck of another in a strategic and quite limber move she'd learned from being forced to learn ballet by her aunt and uncle.

Olivia was on fire, plowing through slavers with a catlike grace and Marcus only did what he could, dropping the ones who were about to get close to Olivia. The moment one of her daggers hit the ground and that very distinctive and pained wail sounded within the walls of the shuttle bay, Marcus knew what he had to do.

"No one hurts my sister and get away with it." Marcus growled.

It was Marcus's turn to dance across the floor with a dagger of his own. He twisted and twirled on the balls of his feet, dodging bullets like no other and mostly using his hands to dispose of the attackers. If Olivia had dexterity, Marcus had the speed. All Olivia could spot from her location on the floor was the faint glint of his dagger here and there from the dim lighting of guns being fired off and hear the loud thuds of armor-clad bodies hitting the floor around her.

After vanquishing the intruders to their private party (to which Olivia racked up the higher body count, of course) the siblings made a break for the helm, sealing the door behind them as Marcus slammed himself into the pilot's chair. Olivia hadn't left the fight unscathed as the shot in her right shoulder was preventing her from doing much of anything except whining.

"Marcus…" Olivia whined to Marcus in that annoying high pitched sound as she dramatically stumbled over to the co-pilot's seat, flopping down and letting her waist raven fringe cover her tear filled eyes.

"Spirits be damned, Olivia. Can you /not/ die on me right now? I'm kinda busy trying to save our asses and it would be a shame if ya died right now." Marcus tapped a few buttons before he started the engines, his eyes never leaving the controls.

To Olivia's surprise the damn thing actually started up and the shields activated almost immediately. The VI alerted them that the kinetic barriers were low, but to Olivia that was the least of their worries. One thrust of the power and whatever batarians had been left behind were probably toasted from the scorching exhaust of the engines.

Olivia breathed a sigh of relief as she held her hand over her profusely bleeding shoulder, wondering how it was that Marcus was always calm, always knew what to do, and knew how to shut up her whining. As she stared at him in admiration, she hoped one day she'd be just as good of a pirate as he'd been.

* * *

I woke from my memory with a start and my lips tugged in a small smile. That was the first moment I could remember actually being shot and I remember how horrible it felt to have a gaping, bleeding hole in my arm. Shit. Now that I really think about it that was just child's play compared to what I felt right now. Then, it was my arm in a sling for two weeks. Right now, every muscle in my body was sore beyond all belief and felt like my limbs were going to either spontaneously combust or just fall off my body.

I took a look around and realized it might have been hours, maybe even days that I'd been passed out. I knew by how my blood coagulated and dried to create scabs over most of my wounds and how the sol star of the planet looked like it was in the exact same place it was before I drifted off. The one that made me angrier than a krogan about the genophage was the one on my face. I knew I wouldn't be able to dodge /that/ scar, but thankfully Jared had a scar removal machine on the SR3 and Jared loved me to pieces.

I think. I hope?

With nothing but sheer determination (or stupidity, you decide) I forced my limbs to work as I stumbled across the desert towards where my shuttle should be with the hope I was right.

To Be Continued...


	3. Part Three

Aria T'Loak. Pirate Queen. Dead Purple Bitch.

She was rumored to be the baddest bitch this galaxy has seen in close to 500 years. Aria was the only sentient being this side of the Reapers that pirates, mercs, governments, politicians, and even the current regime of Cerberus wasn't bold enough to fuck with. She reigned over Omega with an iron fist and whoever broke her one rule knew exactly where they were going; either the incinerator in the bowels of Omega or launched out of a canon past the kinetic barrier and into the vacuum of space.

She must not have known who the fuck /I/ was then.

I stumbled as my legs gave way and my broken body hit the sand floor with a soft thud, only mere yards away from my salvation. I could feel my body growing weaker from the lack of nutrients, water, loss of blood; and I could feel my will to live slowly dwindling while I tried to drag myself across the ground by my claws desperately digging into the sand.

Images flashed in front of my eyes. Carmen. The twins. Katie, Sam, and Seth. Marcus, Angel and Leon. Shale and Atura. Alistair, Norah, and their twins. Ranger and Quinn. Axomis and Scarlett. Jared and Jamie. Vera and Shepard. Anne. Nathaniel. Elaina. Gavin and Giuliana. Even Aran and Lily. All the memories that meant something to me, all the people I'd loved were standing there in the distance like my own personal fucking cheerleading squad trying to give me the strength that I just couldn't grasp like sand between my fingers.

I felt like despite their efforts I just couldn't go on. I ceased to move and let my face hit the sand. My eyes grew heavy to the point I couldn't hold them open anymore and I found myself laying there, in the sand, struggling desperately to live to see the end of the day.

I knew I couldn't give in as much as I'd wanted to. It could have been over then. It should been over then. I should have and let go. Let my soul be loosed into the void and finally took the long awaited rest I deserved. But, I was a fighter to the core and I sure as hell wasn't going to let Aria win.

After rolling over onto my back and staring up at the blue sky and realizing I was pretty fucked, I finally gave in.

If only for a moment.

* * *

Olivia knew she was a dead woman walking the moment she found herself standing in front of the massive steel rusted doors leading to Aria's old warehouse. The hood of her black cloak shrouded her face from recognition and she even flattened her ears against her fiery red hair just to make sure Aria didn't go on the immediate defensive. Over time Olivia had become a very recognizable character in the galactic community of degenerate ingrates; especially to Aria's personal lap dog, Bray. And Olivia knew that if she slipped in any way and revealed herself as the enemy, she'd be shot on sight if not tortured to death.

Olivia narrowed her eyes at the small luminescent lock and tilted her head, her eyes scanning the surface for fingerprints. When she spotted a small smudge on the panel she bent down and took some of the finer granules of sand into her hand and huffed out a gentle breath, watching as it settled on the tempered glass. Like clockwork it stuck to the oils left behind and revealed a beautiful fingerprint that by the shape and complexity of the print itself, she could tell it was batarian. Bray's. One press of her gloved thumb against it and the lock turned green as a click sounded from somewhere nearby.

Yahtzee.

The doors slid open and revealed a long empty hallway Olivia hoped would lead her straight to Aria. As she cautiously made her way down the hallway while stealthily avoiding any security cameras, she wondered why she was here exactly. Maybe it was for revenge for the shit Aria put her though. Maybe it was because Olivia knew that taking out Aria was a means to an end of an era of the once Captain's life. Maybe it was because Olivia had something to prove to the galaxy and to her family? Whatever the motive, Olivia knew she was in too deep to turn back. This was it. This was her time to fuck this purple bitch up five ways from Tuesday.

One peek through the small porthole window and into the main control room and Olivia smirked with a morbid glee.

There Aria paced in all her false grandeur while simultaneously barking orders to her subordinates like she always tended to do. Olivia had firsthand knowledge of how Aria ran her organization since Olivia had been Aria's Nyreen equivalent at one time. She rolled her eyes then looked around the room to take in her surroundings. It was a standard control room like the one Aria had on Omega which wouldn't have provided much cover if the shit hit the fan. She counted six guards working the controls for the warehouse, Aria, and two other women Olivia knew quite well and hated as long as she'd known them.

To Aria's right and dressed like a teenager high on red sand (in all honesty, she probably /was/ high on red sand) was Aria's new red headed confidant: Lissi Draga. She was a protégé of the Patriarch and Olivia knew first hand this little brat would be a bigger problem than Aria herself. To Aria's right was her new bodyguard since Bray moved onto bigger things: Destiny Teodora. She was Vera Teodora's estranged sister and certified crazed maniac. What she lacked in age she made up for in sheer madness. It was rumored she killed fifty Blood pack members with her eezo infused katana in one night. But the truth of the matter was it was really Archangel, White Wolf, and me that did it and not her.

However, whatever Aria said happened in the Criminal Underground, happened. No matter what the truth had been.

Leaving the room out through the other door was good old Bray; a stinky, pesky, shit talking, annoying, cock juggling thundercunt that Olivia just couldn't bear to even look at. The many times she wanted Bray's head on a platter outnumbered all the digits in that room alone.

Thankfully, he was making his grand exit and that meant Olivia would probably have to deal with him later and possibly last since she wanted to take her time gouging out all of Bray's eyes with her bare hands while he was still conscious just so he could feel the pain.

Whatever the case, Olivia hid in the shadows and eagerly awaited her moment for those doors to open. The plan Olivia thought she might have made up was thwarted by the exit of Lissi, who was on her omni-tool and of course, not paying attention to her surroundings. Probably posting stupid shit on the extranet; like where they were; which is how Olivia found them in the first place.

Perfect. Time for Plan B.

Olivia slid out of the shadows the moment the door closed and with a mighty roundhouse kick, kicked her unsuspecting target so hard in her side that Olivia could hear the snap of her ribs. As the young girl tried to turn around and fling her attacker across the room with her biotics, Olivia pressed her face against the wall and had her arm pinned painfully against the girl's back. Bad move bitch. Lissi tried again to fight back but Olivia had the cold barrel of her Diamondback against the back of the girls head faster than her biotics had a chance to recharge.

"Don't. Move." Olivia growled into the girl's ear and she nodded reluctantly; her blue eyes wide with fear of the overpowering and towering pirate.

"Good, little bitch. Now…let's go see Aria, shall we?" Olivia yanked her from the wall like a rag doll and kept the barrel of her gun to the back of Lissi's head while using the girl as a human shield. Outside of the room and right in front of the surveillance camera, Olivia shouted Aria's name just to get the kingpin's attention.

Aria stopped mid pace and narrowed her eyes before opening the doors to the control room as she knew that distinctive voice anywhere. The moment them doors opened Olivia noticed that in the time it took the doors to creak on their hinges the guards were fanned out on both sides of Aria and Destiny. Olivia peeked around Lissi's shivering frame and when the two old friend's eyes locked, the tension in the room got so thick that you couldn't cut it with a hot butter knife.

"Olivia. Marcellus. I should have known." Aria growled softly.

The vicious grin crossed Olivia's face. She knew she had Aria at a disadvantage by having Lissi's life in her hands, and Aria knew this by the way her narrowed eyes widened slightly and her hand raised to halt the guards from straight up turning this into an execution. Olivia took advantage of the moment.

Without any verbal exchange Olivia rested her boot in the girl's back before using the girl as a push off point to slide into cover. The force behind Olivia's weight and the sheer shape of the heel in Lissi's back killed her by snapping her spine with a sickening crack. Her warm corpse hit the floor and slid towards Aria before the shots rang out in what was once Olivia's direction.

As Olivia unholstered her Diamondback revolvers and flipped the switch to activate the shredder ammo in the chambers, she heard Aria's angered and hurt growl even over the gunfire.

"RIP THE BITCH'S HEAD OFF!"

Olivia peeked over cover and used both revolvers to take out the two guards on the ends before ducking back behind cover. They were advancing and advancing quickly and just like when Olivia and Marcus took out the batarians on the Rose, Olivia knew what she needed to do.

Like before, one shot to the light took out half the illumination in the room and casting enough shadow to cause confusion in the remaining four guards. Their gunfire ceased and using the gentle hum of the electronics in the room to center her for battle, Olivia took the advantage to do what she did best. She holstered her revolvers and crept up behind the closest guard slicing their throat from ear to ear with her dagger before kicking the closest one in the stomach.

He stumbled into the one behind him about to open fire (which he opened fire on himself) and Olivia twirled around, taking out her second dagger and launching it towards the other trooper. It went straight through the helm of his visor making the nauseating crack echo throughout the room. The last one opened fire with shaky hands and Olivia expertly dodged, dropping to a crouched position, tripping him, and while he was on his back breaking and bending his arm backwards so that he would shoot himself in the dick with his own gun.

Olivia stood slowly and thought she was lucky to only have six guards and Destiny to plow through before she encountered the main reason she was here. Snatching her daggers defiantly from the corpses Olivia flicked her wrist and sending the blood splattering onto the floor to add to the growing pool around her feet.

"So, Aria…" Olivia cooed in that sarcastic tone she had become quite fond of, "Got any more subordinates I can kill? This has gotten quite boring and I came /way/ too far to be disappointed."

Aria never spoke in response but the smile grew cold across her face. Olivia didn't know if she was genuinely happy that Olivia's balls had dropped some point in her life, if Olivia really just had a death wish, or that Olivia was in for a rude awakening. Olivia bet the latter as the click of heels on the metallic floor cut through the awkward silence and drew her attention to her right.

Destiny. The femme fatale came out from around Aria and waved as she smiled in a way that made Olivia cringe. Now Olivia had seen some pretty lethal looking swords (no pun intended) and the Reaper Cleaver (Alistair's massive sword cut from the essence of a true organic Reaper), the Black Cloak (Kathryn's wavy bladed sword), Justice and Vengeance (Katie's dual white and black katanas), Norah and Carmen's katanas, and even the Creed's Rapier. None of them held not one candle to the sword she slid out of the sheathe hanging from her hip.

Olivia's eyes widened only slightly before she slowly walked over towards Destiny with a deliberate slow click of her heels.

"Destiny Teodora. You've grown." Olivia smiled lightly with a hint of sadness behind it as she remembered the young girl from her days in service to Aria.

"You're a smart one. Seems you've grown too. Except wider not…taller." Destiny smirked darkly and unsheathed her sword, resting the flat part of the blade against her shoulder.

Olivia's eyebrows furrowed instantly and she hadn't taken the comment lightly. "Really, Destiny?" The neko pirate sighed and shook her head, knowing that engaging the banter with Destiny would just anger both women further and break Olivia's focus. "Listen. I know you feel the need to serve Aria. I was there once too as I was wrapped in her shit. But don't be stupid about this. I beg you Destiny, go back to the Citadel and reconcile with your sister. It's a better life than this shit, trust me."

The shrill laughter of the young girl filled the small room and Olivia pinched the bridge of her nose in annoyance. It was starting to piss Olivia off how stupid she was being, but she gritted her teeth and bit her tongue.

The smirk crossed Destiny's face yet again and something seemed odd about it, sinister even? "You call /that/ begging?" She twirled her sword around her, slicing through the air as the blade seemed to leave a thin blue biotic trail behind it. "I know /you/, the whore of Babylon, the seductress of smut, can definitely beg better than that. I've heard you in your endeavors with the arms dealer."

Did she just…? Oh. Hell. No. That was it. Olivia could stand pot shots at her domestication, even her lack of real skills with her sword. But Ranger? That crossed a line that brought the anger to Olivia's eyes.

Apparently that was exactly what Destiny wanted when Olivia pointed the Creed's Revenge towards Destiny initiating a fight to the brutal death that Olivia was sure she'd lose.

* * *

A loud whoosh above me compulsively made me attempt to open my eyes, although I couldn't at the moment as they were heavy and filled with sand particles. Was I dead? Was this heaven? I'd thought it was the moment I saw someone's face in my hazy vision. His words fell on ears filled with sand and his visage made me think I was seeing a spirit of some sort.

I didn't give a fuck what or who, but I was quite glad when the light faded and I didn't feel any pain.

Maybe this was it. Maybe… I was home.

To Be Continued…


	4. Part Four

I slowly woke to the sound of an incessant beeping.

From my days in a hospital and in comas and even when I gave birth to my twins Dylan and Violet, I recognized the sound as a heart monitor. That meant that I was alive which depending on who you were was either blessing or a curse. I'm gonna say blessing.

I tried to sit up but I felt a hand on my chest giving me resistance and pushing me back down on the bed. What the fuck? I wanted to fight and get off this damn bed to find out where I was, who'd saved me, and generally what the fuck was going on but between my wounds and the lethargy in my muscles, I was fucked two ways from Sunday. I just hoped the hand wasn't batarian.

"Don't move. Yer safe so ya ain't gotta worry 'bout nothin'."

I didn't immediately recognize the voice and the pirate drawl but it was definitely human by the way it rolled off the person's tongue. That was a relief. I slowly opened my eyes and turned to face the currently disembodied voice, which to my surprise was a man and a handsome older man at that. I took a quick sweep around the room and it was a sight for sore eyes. It was a med bay, albeit a smaller one than the standard, but a med bay indeed. It had windows that reflected the hallway outside and it seemed like it was stocked with supplies by the overflowing drawers. Although it needed a new bed because it felt like I was lying on a fucking slab of concrete.

I'll just have him add it to my tab.

As our eyes finally locked my breath hung in my throat and I can bet a hundred creds my eyes widened to the size of silver dollars. His eyes were that undeniable, very noticeable, shade of steel lavender that defined our entire family; the entire Marcellus clan. I had them at one point, Marcus and Lily still had them. Had Katie truly been mine, she would have had them too. So who the fuck…?

"Who are you?" I croaked unsteadily and I probably sounded more like a frog singing in the middle of a humid summer night.

McDreamy (is what I named him for the time being) was seated in the corner all suave and shit and he chuckled softly as he spoke. "Name's Derek. Let's git ya patched up first then we can talk semantics."

Bull. Fucking. Shit. I might have been beaten all to hell, brain scrambled like an egg on a hot sidewalk, and probably hallucinating this shit due to the fact that my mouth felt like the Sahara and there was no way my fucking luck was this good, but I could have sworn…

"Did you say…Derek? As in… Captain Derek Marcellus?" I managed to query a bit more in my own voice, but even to me it still sounded hoarse and distant.

"Even half dead yer still damn quick." He slowly rose from his place in the shifty corner and sat on the edge of my bed, those eyes peering straight through my soul like the strong leader of what I'd associated as my family. At least it was the family I thought I'd had. I /did/ get a good look at him and for a man nearing his sixties, he seriously looked good. As a matter of fact, he was hot. Very hot. Like good Buffalo Wings. With a side of Tabasco. Mmmmm. I shook off the obvious thoughts that crowed my mind. And now, I was hungry.

"I'm using my brain, not my itchy trigger finger. My brain still works, damn it. " I rolled my eyes and even /that/ shit hurt. Spirits be damned, what the fuck did I /do/ to myself? The question should have been, what the fuck did I put myself through?

"Yeah. It'd be hard holdin' a gun with them busted hands o'yers. And let's not talk about holdin' it straight." Derek held a straight face, almost like…Was he?

"You don't think I don't know that? This "ain't" my first rodeo, space cowboy." I groaned softly and rubbed the bandage on my face. "Maybe not even my last. Shit."

"Better not be. Marcelluses don't die easily. Take it from me." A shadow of sadness shrouded Derek's strong features and it was then that I felt sorrier for him than I felt for myself.

I let out a long sigh before smiling as best I could through the pain still coursing through my veins. Although it occurred to me then that this old man, this man that Marcus and I pretty much modeled our entire lives after, my fucking hero in so many terms, called me a Marcellus. You'd think this wasn't something to be all proud about since Marcus and I dragged the name through the mud a few dozen times. But it meant something to me. It meant I had more family than I knew what to do with. It meant that maybe in some fucked up universe in some fucked up time, this man was trying to be my father.

"Damn skippy. You want me to at least tell you what happened to me before we get all sentimental and shit?" I couldn't help but snort and I swore the sand embedded in my nose created a cloud in front of me.

"Sure, why not? If you think you can with yer condition." He rose from my side of the bed and grabbed a tumbler of water with a straw and handed it to me with a soft smile.

I took the tumbler, thankful for the relief it gave as I took a few swallows and cradled it in my hand. "It all started when I tried to be a badass…"

* * *

Battered, beaten, and bleeding; Olivia followed the trail of blue blood Aria had left on her hasty exit. Fucking Bray. Had he not come into Destiny and Olivia's fight with his gun blazing like the lumbering Neanderthal he was, Olivia /might/ have left the fight with just the long gash on her cheek. Destiny caught Olivia slipping and one strategic slice sheared open the side of Olivia's face. Then, here came the knight in dead armor popping a few in Olivia's back before she could even have a chance to retaliate.

But oh my best believe Olivia got her revenge and it was sweeter than her love for her kids. She honored the promise she'd made to herself and slowly and agonizingly (she channeled Kathryn for this one) gouged out each one of Bray's eyeballs with her thumbs before stringing him upside down and slicing his throat so he could die agonizingly slowly. Let's just say he wouldn't be leading Eclipse anymore. Before that she'd impaled Destiny on her sword through the soft tissue of her stomach, making sure to gut her from waist to throat in a sheer Valkyrie rage that was only paralleled to her dearest daughter Kathryn.

Poor Destiny. She only felt a minute amount of remorse for the girl because Olivia was such good friends with Vera and killing the girl wasn't Olivia's original intention. Slowly sliding the bay doors open to the large warehouse she initially didn't see Aria as she panned around the room. There were crates, machines, maybe even a few YMIR mechs to which puzzled Olivia because they had the Cerberus logo still painted on them. Why in the fuck Aria would keep these was beyond Olivia's comprehension but Olivia prodded into Aria's well placed trap.

But Aria was a sneaky bitch. She watched Olivia with her arms coolly folded over her torso from in the shadows for a moment and it wasn't her icy tone filled the room that Olivia turned in her direction.

"Since when does a Marcellus wield a sword?" The purple kingpin arched a tattooed eyebrow and slowly moved from the shadows and into the light.

"It doesn't really matter does it, Aria?" Olivia sighed deeply and tried to hold herself straight despite the pain radiating through her body. "Let's just do this and be done with it. You know what I'm fucking here for so let's skip the foreplay this time."

"You /want/ to die? Shame, really." Aria positioned herself between Olivia and the exit making sure that Olivia stayed in the warehouse and didn't try to make a hasty and cowardly escape. Not like she could with her wounds. "I'll have to remind myself to send Carmen and White Wolf a condolence card with my signature in your blood."

"And you wonder why I've always hated you." Olivia stood there in place with her sword pointed downwards, watching Aria's moves carefully.

"To each their own." Aria extended her arms as two glowing blue biotic whips appeared. The air seemed to crackle with electricity and make the hairs on the back of Olivia's neck stand on edge. "I hoped you saved your energy." Aria smiled darkly at the small drops of blood pooling around Olivia's feet. "I won't make this easy for you."

"I'd be disappointed if you did." Olivia rotated her weapon downwards and to the side from above, parting her feet to take her defensive position. The Creed's Revenge was slanted downward and behind her with the handle edge aiming forward at Aria.

Olivia knew she was fucked before this even started. With Aria's biotic whips and just the fact that Olivia was already starting to feel the effects of her blood loss, she knew that she needed a miracle to beat Aria in this state. Hell at least she would die honorably and the fact that she'd never have to hear Bray's whiny mouth ever again was worth the sacrifice she'd made.

Aria took the first shot and ran forwards at a speed Olivia had a hard time keeping up with as she cracked one of her whips in Olivia's direction. Olivia's sword glinted in the lights as she rotated it upwards to block the first attack but left her side open for the second. As the biotics from the first whip crackled around Olivia's blade, Aria cracked her whip against Olivia's side, slicing her side open like butter.

The pirate stumbled backwards and let out a soft groan of pain as more blood started to seep from her body. She was instantly thankful she'd taken those blood thickeners before this fight. That meant she didn't bleed as much and could still retain her wits about her which she needed as she lifted her sword again. No words were exchanged as Aria came at Olivia again, this time switching up her method and cracking her whip where Olivia's head would have been. Thankfully, it only tagged her ear. Olivia wanted to cry out but she knew it would have given Aria the pleasure she wanted as her blood mingled with her crimson silk.

A few more lacerations to her stomach and back and Olivia let her body fall backwards. She hit the metal floor like a ragdoll. Her breathing was ragged and she was panting, trying to get in any breaths she could manage before it was lights out. Fuck, she was in pain and a lot of it. Olivia watched in a bit of amusement as Aria loomed over her with that icy smile she always had.

"Tch Tch Tch, little Marcellus. When will you learn that you can't fuck with Aria and just fucking walk away? It just doesn't work like that." Aria chuckled darkly. "By the way, say hi to Archangel and Hackett for me."

Aria lifted her whip to perform the coup de grace and as Aria was speaking and rattling on about that one fucking rule of hers, Olivia spotted a crate that she knew probably held some pretty heavy equipment and a fuel tanker not far from that. With some residual energy and probably the last bit of her own adrenaline Olivia took out her revolver and aimed it at the fuel tanker. One shot and the container hissed out whatever flammable gas had been stored inside. Aria only flinched lightly as she gave Olivia a smug look.

"You missed."

"Why don't /you/ say hi to them for me, bitch? And by the way those were incendiary rounds. Cunt."

It was then that a mighty explosion rocked the warehouse and sent Olivia and Aria in two opposing directions. Olivia slammed hard against the wall and slid down leaving a small blood trail behind her. Aria only slid across the floor as she'd thrown up her biotic barrier to protect her. What Aria didn't see as Olivia struggled desperately to stand was that the explosion knocked the crate loose and before Aria could charge Olivia again or even wonder what the fuck was going on, the crate came tumbling down onto Aria's head, effectively turning her into a blue stain on the warehouse floor.

All Olivia could hear over the roar of the raging fire above her was the sound of metal screaming and Olivia covered her eyes, barely picking up on the squish of Aria's insides being ejected from her body and the crack of bones under the weight of the crate's contents.

"I don't miss, Aria. You should have /known/ that." Olivia breathed out to a now empty room.

The pirate counted exactly sixty seconds she'd have to possibly make it out of this alive and she bolted for the door, barely dodging en flambé debris, and red hot metal pools. Olivia didn't even have time to open the door as the shockwave from the second and most devastating explosion sent her soaring out of the warehouse and into the daylight of Ontarom.

She landed hard on her leg, which broke on impact and sent Olivia rolling down the hill through the sand. A few snaps of her bones (her tail primarily) and she finally came to a stop. When she did she looked back towards the warehouse and watched as Aria's empire and hold over the entire Terminus came crumbling down along with the steel walls. Her sword came flying her way as well, landing blade side down in the sand next to her.

Olivia would have cheered and done more obscene things. What Olivia /should/ have done was made a break for her shuttle and bid this hell of a planet adios. But not Olivia. Oh no. Olivia rolled over and tried to stand but realized very quickly, that shit wasn't happening. And to add insult to injury Aria's goons, some of the ones that had survived the ordeal, came lumbering after her with a vengeance.

Thankfully Olivia had at least one of her revolvers and she unholstered it while snatching Creed's Revenge from the sand. She was going to plow through these assholes because in her mind, she'd just killed Aria T'Loak. She could take on a few goons.

That was /not/ the way it was going to work.

Olivia quickly realized it was futile and holstered the Revenge on her hip, hobbling towards a small alcove of rocks that she could either A, use for cover or B, wait it out. However, salvation came in a different form for her. She barely made it to the rock shelter before she was spotted and had it not been for the timing she would have met her end along with them. Just as quick as she'd made it to the shelter the electrical storm started up and one by one, she could hear the sounds of skulls exploding. A terrified scream there. Sizzling armor from nearby. A pop here. Like capacitors in a reversed electrical current.

The storm faded and Olivia crawled out of the shelter, barely making it over to one of the guards and to her elation, they were all dead. This meant Olivia had two hours to make it back to the shuttle which would be ample time. Except one thing.

Her adrenaline faded and down she went like the Berlin wall, her face planting the sand and to Olivia, it was truly and finally lights out.

* * *

"And shortly after, you found me and here we are."

I was feeling much better as the drugs Derek had given me had finally kicked in. As I watched his reaction to this grandiose story I wondered if he'd actually believed me. It was a tall tale in of itself and had this been someone /else/ telling /me/ I might have called them crazy and had them committed to Huerta's Psyche ward. I mean, really? Killing Aria?

Okay, thinking about it now I /might/ have added a few things here and there to spice the story up because hey, Pirate.

What was it you ask? You may never know. Just know that Aria and her band of merry shit heads are dead

Make a note. This was the day you almost saw Olivia Creed die.

The End.


End file.
